Helmers joins Magpies’ nest
LAKE Boga have wasted no time replacing joint coaches Shawn Filo and Angus Monfries, appointing former Mallee Eagles and Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach Dean Helmers for next season.
The news was made official this week, after the club announced the departure of Filo last weekend.
Helmers coached Tooleybuc-Manangatang the past two seasons, holding a 4-28 win-loss record in charge of the rebuilding side.
The former Geelong-listed player previously coached the Mallee Eagles between 2017 and 2021, including back-to-back grand final appearances in 2018 and 2019.
“The direction we are looking to head with the club is to develop and play the locals,” Helmers said in Lake Boga’s announcement.
“(We’re) not looking to recruit many, maybe two to three players, and instead look to get 30 to 50 games into our young list and build towards a successful period at senior level.
“The club has a very good junior program and hopefully in the not-too-distant future we can really carry that into the senior ranks for sustained success.”
Former Lake Boga junior Brodie Tonkin will return to the club, along with recruits Will Doquille and Lochlan Wooding.
While the Magpies have quickly moved on, so to have Filo and Monfries, the pair set to join forces again next season as joint coaches of Maiden Gully-YCW in the Loddon Valley league.
Also leaving the nest were Ricky Wild and Lincoln Frost, the pair set to play at Golden Rivers club Ultima next season.
New Roos sign on
FORMER senior coach Brodie Bennett will join Wild and Frost pulling on the blue-and-white stripes at Ultima next season.
Bennett will return to the club he coached between 2019 and 2021, including to the 2019 grand final, before spending the past two seasons with Tyntynder.
Also joining Ultima next year will be midfielder Ryan Featherby, the former Bulldog announced as the Roos’ first signing earlier this week.
The quartet were set to play alongside the recommitted Jake Foster, Mitch Makepeace, Tom Bull, Will Nelson, Kade Benfield, Sam Coffey and Bailey Codling.
